Opposites Attract, yet the Identical Repels
by Beth7
Summary: (AU) Magneto, once known as Eric Lensher, has a daughter. 18-yr-old Katelyn Lensher is headstrong, tough, and powerful. Neither knows of each other's existence. What will happen in the final battle when father and daughter are pitted against each other?
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One  
  
Eric Lensher rubbed his neck and massaged his temples. He needed to tell his wife, Maggie, the truth. The truth that had been haunting him more than usual lately after his wife had declared happily that she was glad there wasn't any deception in their marriage. Normally, it was strange that his wife would make a statement like that but she had been watching All My Children. According to her, Erica Kane had just confessed she knew Greenlee was Jack's daughter. Afterwards he thought, "what the heck kinda name is Greenlee?" But it had spurred the rise of guilt in him. And now Eric had to tell her or he was going to go crazy. He was a mutant. A mutant that could attract metal.  
  
He sighed. He needed to get a grip. Eric dug in his pockets for his keys after exiting the flower shop. He had wanted to get some pretty flowers for Maggie. Eric figured that it couldn't hurt. So after purchasing some pink roses, he walked to his car, unlocked it, and got in. He drove the short 3 miles to his house and walked up the walkway decorated with a garden along the sides. Eric stopped and smiled. Maggie would definitely like the pink roses. He turned, then completed the walk to the door. Eric retrieved his house key and inserted it into the lock. The door opened and he stepped in. Immediately, he was greeted by a thin, dark-haired, and middle-aged woman who was bouncing up and down, flashing her dimples at him. "Guess what honey? I have the best news to tell you!" she squealed. Then, evidently seeing the roses, she sighed. "Oh honey! Thank you!"  
  
Eric chuckled. "You're welcome. I know you like them. I have some news too."  
  
Maggie smiled. "I do. Hey, so what about your news?"  
  
"Nah, it can wait. You tell me yours first," He said, anxious to avoid telling his "news".  
  
"No honey, you first."  
  
Apparently, there was no way he could avoid. Taking a deep breath, he said "Um honey...you remember seeing those reports about Xavier trying to get rights for the mutants?"  
  
Maggie nodded, confused.  
  
"Well...I've known Xavier for a really long time now...I was...am.. like him..."  
  
"What do you mean, 'like him'?" she asked suspiciously. She set her roses down on the coffee table and folded her arms.  
  
"Well..." Eric swallowed nervously. Lord, he hoped she would understand. "I'm a....mutant."  
  
Maggie just sat still for maybe five minutes. When Eric couldn't stand it anymore he called her name gently. "Maggie?" suddenly walked to the coffee table and said quietly, "I want you to get out. You're not the person I thought I knew. Get. Out."  
  
Eric just stood there, immobile. A tear rolled out of his eye. He just shook his head as if saying, Not this.  
  
"Maggie please.." Eric pleaded. "I'm still the same person."  
  
At this, Maggie turned gripping the roses. Then without warning, she threw the roses at her husband. "I SAID GET OUT!" she cried, quavering.  
  
Shocked, Eric turned, ran out of the house, and jumped in his car. His hands shaking, he finally found the key and inserted it into the ignition. The car started up and he backed out. Eric took one last look at the house with his visibly upset wife standing the doorway, still watching him as if he was a freak. He jammed on the gas pedal and took off.  
  
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Maggie stood there in her doorway, staring down the direction that Eric had fled. He had lied to her! And even worse, he was a mutant! She disliked mutants intensely, but that didn't stop her from loving him. She slowly shut the door, walked back to the living room and looked at the scattered roses. No doubt he bought those to ease the terrible news. A mutant! A sob escaped her. How could she not have known? Always finding keys, pins, or coins on him and still she didn't realize. She knelt down on the floor, crying her heart out. After a long time had passed, she stopped. Wiping her eyes, she stood up. Maggie gently placed a hand on her stomach and whispered gently, "Long as you don't turn out to be a mutant, we'll be okay baby." 


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
*18 years later*  
  
Katelyn trudged up the stairs to her apartment, weary from work in a waitress's uniform. She'd been too tired to change and the only that kept her going was the thought of home. When she reached her floor, she paused.  
  
"You come up with 500 dollars or you're out! Ya hear me?!" The landlord of the building yelled at a tenant down the hall.  
  
"Yeah, I hear ya! Now get out!" The woman yelled back, slamming the door on him.  
  
Growling in response, the landlord turned and stalked down the hall.  
  
Katelyn shook her head. Home sweet home, she thought cynically.  
  
Walking over to her door, she paused and unlocked the six locks on her door. Stepping inside, she looked around for her mother. No doubt sitting on the couch passed out, she thought. Either that or screwing her latest deadbeat boyfriend.  
  
"Mother?" she called. She never called her mother "Mom". Too informal for a mother who was never there. "Mother" suited her fine for it kept Katelyn's distance.  
  
No response.  
  
Katelyn glanced around the living room, disgusted. Her mother hadn't cleaned it up like she was supposed to. The living room was strewn with empty liquor bottles or cigarette butts. The couch had a dirty blanket thrown over it and a pillow. The coffeetable was covered with magazines and a remote to the tv was on it. The tv was off though, which Katelyn considered unusual. Mother always liked to keep the tv on to the soap channel.  
  
Tossing her purse on the kitchen counter, Katelyn crossed the drab living room to the hall. Knocking one of the doors that led to her mother's bedroom, Katelyn called out once again. "Mother, are you in there?"  
  
Hearing no response, Katelyn figured it was safe to walk in. Pushing the door open, she walked in. On the bed was a sleeping, thin, dark-haired woman who you could tell used to be pretty until life had thrown everything it had on her. Now she looked unkempt with her hair unwashed, dark makeup smeared on her slightly wrinkled face, and a empty bottle of liquor clutched in her hand.  
  
Katelyn's familiar anger began to fill her. "Mother!"  
  
"Ahhh!" The woman sat up suddenly, clutching her head. "God, Katelyn! Don't yell at me like that!"  
  
"Mother," Katelyn began, her voice low and angry. "What are you doing sleeping? You were supposed to clean up the house. Now, why didn't you?"  
  
"Oh," the woman said tiredly. "I forgot."  
  
"You forgot."  
  
Katelyn's mother raised her eyes timidly up to her daughter's face. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I see," Katelyn said silkily.  
  
"Oh, Katelyn please. I really did forget!"  
  
"I'm sure you did." Katelyn turned, strode back into the hall, and went into her own bedroom.  
  
Slamming the door behind her, Katelyn began tearing off her clothes and jumped into the shower. How could she, she fumed. All I ask her to do is clean the house and she doesn't do it. Feeling the hot water hit her skin, Katelyn relaxed. Of course. I shouldn't have asked her to do it. She'll never do anything, she thought with sadness.  
  
Sighing once more, Katelyn turned off the tap and stepped out. Wrapping a towel around her, she combed her dark hair and slipped on pajamas.  
  
A timid knock came at the door. "Katelyn?" her mother's voice called. "I really am sorry."  
  
Exhausted, Katelyn rubbed her face. "Whatever, Mother. Just go to bed."  
  
Silence reigned for a few seconds then footsteps left the room. Katelyn listened until she was really gone and opened the door. Crawling in her bed, Katelyn welcomed the feel of her soft mattress and promptly fell asleep.  
  
Her dreams that night were filled with a bald man in a wheelchair, smiling at her with kindness. And power. It was also filled with a lot of power. Even in her dream state, Katelyn realized that the power was her own. 


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Katelyn woke up the next morning, feeling disoriented. What was that dream all about? Shrugging her shoulders and chalking it up to another strange dream, she got up and began to shower.

Forty minutes later, she emerged from her bedroom in her waitress's uniform. Sighing, she grabbed her purse and peeked in her mother's bedroom, only to find her sleeping on the bed holding a bottle of liquor in her right hand. Katelyn looked at her with sadness, suddenly remembering how her mother used to be so vibrant and happy. Now, she was just a drunk.

"_Come on, Katelyn, you can do it!"_

_Seven-year-old Katelyn glanced at her mother with an apprehensive expression on her face and looked at the pink bicycle sitting in the driveway._

"_I don't want to," she whined. "I might fall off!"_

"_Now, Katelyn," her mother gently said. "I promise I'll be right there by your side. I won't let you fall. Don't worry. Now, let's try it one more time, okay?"_

_Katelyn, realizing that she had no choice, gave in and got back on the bicycle. Her mother's soft hands came and rested on the handlebar and the other on Katelyn's back. Katelyn, soothed with the feel of her mother's hand, began to push the pedals. _

_After going around the block and coming back to their driveway, Katelyn's mother thought for a minute then said, "Katelyn, I'm gonna let go, okay? But I'll be right there beside you, I'm not going anywhere."_

_True to her words, she let go. And Katelyn began riding down the street all by herself._

"_Mommy, I did it!" Giggles escaped from the little girl. "Look at me, Mommy! I'm doing it! I'm riding my bike!"_

_It was at that moment when an equally radiant smile lighted up both mother and daughter's faces. Oh, Katelyn, her mother thought. I love you so much._

Katelyn stared out the window, remembering that day. She wished she could be a child again. In her opinion, children were lucky. They were so innocent and happy. Katelyn wished that she could have that kind of happiness again.

One thing was for sure, she probably would never find it in this apartment living with her mother. Katelyn straightened her shoulders and shook off the memory. She opened the door and set off for work.

When she reached the diner, she greeted the regulars and tucked her purse away. One of her co-workers, Pam, was wiping the counter.

"Hey, Katelyn," Pam said. "Better watch out, Sal's on the warpath today. Luanne told Sal this morning that she wanted not only the house, but the dog too."

Katelyn groaned. Sal was their boss, and it was known by all the employees and some of the regular customers that Sal was going through a nasty divorce with his soon-to-be ex-wife, Luanne. Whenever Sal had a run-in with Luanne, he took it out on his employees and also annoyed the customers by constantly talking about Luanne and her shortcomings as a wife.

"Great, just great. Are we the only ones working today?" Katelyn asked.

Pam grimly nodded. "Afraid so."

Katelyn sighed. "Lovely."

Pam and Katelyn then began to greet customers that were coming in through the door. As she seated a father and his son to a table, she took their orders and went back into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she gave the orders to the cook and began to look for napkins and silverware to take to the family. As she found the napkins, her hand moved toward the silverware.

The silverware suddenly shot down the counter, toward the cook. Puzzled, Katelyn made a move for it again, but it only went further down. She made two more attempts but it didn't work.

Now getting frustrated, Katelyn stared at the silverware.

Lou, the cook, raised his eyebrow and said, "is there a problem, Katelyn?"

With a hint of annoyance in her voice, she replied, "No, no problem. My hands are just..." she paused. "Slippery this morning, I guess."

Lou chuckled. "Yeah, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that those silverware don't want to be anywhere near you."

Katelyn rolled her eyes. "Yeah, real funny, Lou."

Realizing that she probably looked like an idiot, she waited until Lou's back was to her. When Sal suddenly yelled for Lou to come into his office, Katelyn seized the opportunity.

Gritting her teeth, she lunged for the silverware and finally managed to wrap her fingers around it. "Haha!" Katelyn grinned. "I got you now."

Turning around, Katelyn carried the napkins and tightly held the silverware, which strangely felt like it was trying to escape from her hands, to the table. As she set down the napkins and the silverware, the silverware shot across the table and suddenly made a beeline for the little boy sitting there.

In a matter of moments, the boy yelled and jumped up. "Daddy!"

The boy's father grabbed him and they scrambled out of the booth. The father glared at Katelyn, whose mouth was open in shock. "What the hell do you think you're doing, throwing it at him! Why did you scare him like that!"

Katelyn, at a loss for what to say, could only gape at the man.

"Well?" the father demanded while the boy stayed behind his father, gazing with a terrified expression toward Katelyn.

"Um...well….I don't know…," Katelyn stammered. "It just…shot out of my hand."

Pam, seeing the situation, rushed over. "I am so sorry, sir. She's normally not like this."

"Yeah, I bet you're sorry," the father snarled. "We're never coming back here again. Come on, Tommy." The father picked up his son and he strode out of the diner.

Turning to Katelyn, Pam asked, "What happened?"

Katelyn looked at her, confused. "I don't know. But I think I need to go home."

Pam sighed, then nodded. "Okay, I'll cover for you. Rest when you get home, okay? I need you back here."

Katelyn nodded. "Okay, I will." Taking off her apron, she grabbed her purse then headed out to her car.

When she got to her car, Katelyn got in and just sat in the driver's seat for ten minutes. She wondered how that could have possibly happened. I didn't throw it at him, she thought. Is it possible that the table was really slippery and it just slid over to the boy? No, she decided. That's crazy. Pam always washes the tables really good.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Katelyn thought. Then what? Realizing that there was no rational explanation for this, she decided to go home. Maybe after a good night's sleep, she could figure it out.

With that thought in mind, Katelyn left the parking lot, unaware that a mysterious group of people were watching her in the alley.

The group of people had decided that Katelyn was the one. She was the one they needed. The question was when they were going to bring her in. After much deliberation, they all agreed to bring her in tomorrow night.

It was time to make her one of them.

Author's Note: I am so sorry that it took me this long to update. I know there's nothing I can say that will explain or excuse why I haven't updated, so I won't even try.

But I will say this: I will definitely be updating regularly, when my work and classes schedule allows me free time. But anyway, I hope yall enjoyed this chapter and reviews would be greatly appreciated. :)


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Katelyn gasped and her eyes flew open. Her skin was prickling with goosebumps. Her heart pounding, she looked around her bedroom but there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. Katelyn rubbed her arms in an effort to warm them. What had awakened her? Once more, she glanced around uneasily. She thought about turning on the light but something told her not to. For some strange reason, Katelyn felt that she was safer in the dark. And she was right.

"Don't turn on the light," came a low silky voice out of the darkness. "If you do, you'll be wishing you hadn't."

Katelyn fought to dispel the rising terror in her. She tried to see if it was one of the neighborhood bullies that was trying to give her a scare but she could not recognize the voice. The only thing that she could figure out about her intruder that he was a man that sounded like he was in his mid-twenties. "Look, if you're here to rape me, it won't work. I've taken self-defense classes. I can handle myself." Katelyn took a deep breath, hoping that it would stop her voice from trembling. "Now get out before I call the cops!"

The intruder chuckled. "Now, Katelyn, why would I want to rape you?"

Remembering that she had a baseball bat from when she used to play softball as a little girl near her bed, Katelyn began to cautiously feel for it, hoping that her attempt at escape would go unnoticed. "Then who are you? What are you doing here?"

He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "I am here to offer you a chance. A chance to be part of something great, something powerful." The voice paused. "And I'd stop looking for that baseball bat, by the way. I could tear you apart before you even move an inch."

Katelyn froze.

The intruder sighed. "Now Katelyn, that shows me that you don't trust me. And that hurts my feelings."

"_Trust_ you?" Katelyn snapped. "You show up in my room in the middle of the night, threatening me, and offering me 'a chance to be part of something great', which personally sounds like pure bullshit to me, but you want _me_ to _trust you?_ Go to hell!"

Laughter erupted from the man. "Wow, they weren't kidding, were they? You really do have spirit. You know, Katelyn, I like you."

"Get out," Katelyn snarled.

"Sure. But you'll be coming with me." At that, the man grabbed Katelyn, who was cursing and trying to fight him as hard as she possibly could, and threw her out the window.

Katelyn hurtled sixteen stories down, screaming. Dear God, Katelyn frantically thought. I am going to die. When she saw the ground rushing up beneath her, she closed her eyes and tried to brace her body for the deadly impact.

But she didn't hit the concrete. To Katelyn's shock, she landed in a pair of strong, muscled arms and to her amazement, seemed to be alive.

"Uhh!" The man who caught her grunted. "Damn, this one's heavy."

Katelyn, feeling insulted, immediately began to fight. "Let me go!"

Then she heard a woman's voice, laughing softly. "I think you hurt her feelings, Sammy."

"Oh please," Sammy rolled his eyes. "You'd think she'd be grateful that I saved her life."

"You'd think," the woman said with amusement.

Katelyn, finding her voice again, demanded, "What's going on?"

The woman looked at her, her hazel eyes appearing almost black in the darkness. She cocked her head to the side. "I apologize for the fall. There was no other way to get you out of the building this quickly. But didn't James tell you everything?"

"No!" Katelyn scowled. Looking up at Sammy, "Do you _mind_? I'd like to get down."

Sammy eyed her. "You're not going to try to run, are you?"

"No, see I'm pretty curious as to why I just got thrown out of a window."

The woman laughed. "Let her go, Sammy."

Sammy set her down on the ground.

Katelyn turned around with her hands on her hips and her eyes flashing. "Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on, or I swear I will kick both of your asses."

A familiar voice suddenly came out of the darkness. "Wow, that self-defense class must have really been something, huh?"

Katelyn spun around.

It was the man who had thrown her out of a window.

"You!" Katelyn was so angry she couldn't even speak in complete sentences. "You-why-how could you-I'm gonna!" Katelyn took a deep breath, fuming.

The woman sighed. "James, why didn't you explain anything to her?"

James shrugged. "Charlie, I tried. She wouldn't stop arguing or shut up long enough to listen to me."

"I believe that," Sammy muttered.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Men. Can't rely on them to do anything."

Katelyn closed her eyes. The shock of this was finally getting to her. She pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping to ward off the headache she could feel coming.

Charlie turned to her. "Katelyn," she said gently. "You're here because we want your help. Have you ever heard of mutants?"

Katelyn nodded.

Charlie's eyes became even darker than it already was. "Good. Well, you just met three of them."

Katelyn shook her head. "No."

"Yes," Charlie said firmly. "Deal with it because we need you to help us take out someone very powerful and evil and doesn't deserve to live."

"You're kidding," she laughed weakly. "Right?"

Three grim faces looked back at her, clearly informing Katelyn that this was no joke.

"Oh," Katelyn said. "Damn."


End file.
